[Paper delivered 12-13-07]
The Blogger Speaks
To the Editor:
It should be clear by now that the blond Nazi photo cited in recent articles and on your editorial page -- as well as other photos -- were posted by the blog Authentic Connecticut Republican.
This controversy relates to the attempt by a synagogue to relocate in Litchfield.
My blog, The Cool Justice Report, links to Authentic Connecticut Republican and about 300 other blogs and websites representing widely diverse points of view.
That being said, I agree the photo of the Nazi woman posted in response to Wendy Kuhne's outrageous and prejudicial statements about the Star of David is offensive. It is also very amusing. I wish I had posted it myself. I also wonder, has anyone done more than Kuhne and Lynne Brickley to promote the Nazi photo?
Every one has their own taste meter. I wonder how we might compare the Nazi photo with the Kuhne comments that forced her disqualification to vote on the synagogue plan.
Which is more obscene?
For Kuhne and other officials who have a history of violating or threatening property rights and wasting taxpayer money, certainly a little parody is not out of line.
Journalists interested in a really good story -- which will require some research -- ought to examine the legal bills generated by the Historic District Commission over the past 10 or 15 years and talk with property owners who have been harassed by the commission. Why hasn't anyone pulled those billing records and done some basic reporting?
Public officials who stray beyond their authority -- and even those who do not -- should be able to handle criticism and parody. If they can't handle that, then they are not fit to serve.
Complaints by Kuhne and Brickley about taste divert attention from the real issues of civil rights, property rights, discrimination and religious freedom.
Are Kuhne and Brickley running an underground charm school somewhere in the district? [deleted from published letter: Has anyone hired them for this purpose?]
What a fine Welcome Wagon Litchfield has presented for this new house of worship.
New objections to the synagogue continue to surface. It's sort of like saying we don't want a group home for the retarded because of traffic or we don't want busing for integration or the Harriet Beecher Stowe house for whatever cockamamie reason. As a civil rights leader remarked some years ago, "It's not the bus -- it's us."
It is noteworthy that a lawyer for unidentified residents compared the synagogue to a strip joint.
It is also noteworthy that the Star of David on the Methodist Church nearby the new synagogue never bothered anyone, but the Star of David at the synagogue was made an issue by Kuhne.
Those who like to shoot the messenger would do well to turn their guns on the self-satisfied goons who think their whims are more important than the Bill of Rights or the Constitution.
This holiday season is a good time to think about the Litchfield Welcome Wagon as driven by Kuhne, Brickley, et al.
It might not be as good as being on the Nixon Enemies List, but being on the Kuhne-Brickley Enemies List is about as good as it gets locally.
Good cheer and schmutz to all. And keep those cards and letters coming.
Andy Thibault
Litchfield
2 comments:
You ask which is more obscene: the blonde Nazi or Kuhne's comments about the synagogue.
The question implies that both are obscene. Why bother parsing degrees of obscenity?
Rabbi Eisenbach raised an excellent question regarding the Nazi "parody": How can anyone reduce this situation to such hateful and lowly terms?
Any thoughts for the good rabbi, Mr. Thibault?
Earlier, you posted the lyrics to Springtime for Hitler. I suppose this was to show that Nazi references can draw a laugh. True enough. Springtime for Hitler is pretty funny. But likening Ms. Kuhne, no matter how odious her views on the synagogue issue may be, to Nazi murderers is not funny at all. It's asinine. It's hateful and lowly. And it degenerates the discourse to a level unworthy of any civil rights movement.
Somehow Martin Luther King Jr. managed to refrain from Nazi-themed "parody" while confronting Bull Connor in Birmingham, Alabama.
>>Somehow Martin Luther King Jr. managed to refrain from Nazi-themed "parody" while confronting Bull Connor in Birmingham, Alabama.
Exactly - and Rabbi Eisenbach has, as other victims of bigotry have in the past - said little or nothing regarding the actions of his attackers.
To his credit.
However those of you that are sitting quietly on the sidelines are no better than those that have, and continue to attack.
That's fine I guess seeing at least we now where to count you.
I however am an Authentic Connecticut Republican and I believe (from my own 1st post):
And most important - the Republican Party is no place a bigot should even feel safe from physical harm. We should all revere the actions of Connecticut native, Abolitionist John Brown.
Can we safely assume your ancestors did nothing to help with the Revolution, fled to safer ground as Tories did they? What of the Abolitionist movement or the underground railroad? No DNA link there eh? (How did we ever guess?)
When your own grandchild asks what you did when the zombies decided to attack the Jews in Litchfield you will answer ???????????????
My God help you - surely no one else will.
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